Many current and older vintages are still available at retail, e.g.
https://www.klwines.com/Products?searchText=bedrock
You can have it both ways… buy a few bottles with age and pop them to see what they blossom into, and then decide if you want to hold or drink… with the bonus that you can buy a few more back-vintages and wait for your shipment to get a few years. Or, you can decide to drink your bottles young, and then look for more bottles of the ones that you really love.
Zinfandel young or with 2-3 years of age on it is fantastic. Pop a couple open to get a sense of the world of Bedrock, then start opening them over the next year or three. Killer stuff!!!
I find all these “Let it age!” opinions to be interesting. I’ll start by noting Bedrock is likely 2X the next most represented producer in my cellar. Maybe 3X. HOWEVER, this winery has only been around since what, 2007? And wasn’t really getting noticed until 2010 or so? Given that so little is out there that even has 10 years on it, I posit we don’t really know how this stuff is going to age. Now, I’m not particularly worried about any of it going over the hill in the next 5 years, but will it improve? I say TBD (although I like my chances). I do know when I open something with 2-4 years of “age” on it (I should note a general bias of mine that no wine is really “aged” until it’s got 15 or so years on it) it’s almost always fantastic. Yes, it tastes like a young wine - it is! So I say pop without worries, but hold if you’re so inclined.
Now if you don’t mind I’m going to go cry over the 2011 W-a-W Syrah #1 my wife opened with her friends.
That is a great selection. I even have an account with K&L and I had a case picked out. But somewhere along the line they decided that they can’t ship to Ohio. So I will have to look elsewhere.
to be fair, thats kind of the spot the OVZ should occupy in the lineup. its the one that should be an into to the style, but its also the least expensive in the lineup. you know based on that wine you’re not gonna be the typical “poizin” style zin, but you also know its their most straightforward wine. I would absolutely suggest cracking open at least one of the field blends (even the evanghelo and other vineyard designates, while mostly Zin, are actually a blend) to see what the cost jump gains you. definitely decant and serve with something thats got a little backbone to it, and follow over a couple days!
Against my better judgement and out of pure curiosity, I coravined a few glasses of the recently arrived 2018 Old Hill Ranch Zinfandel, and greatly enjoyed it. Granted, it will improve over many years (I am still trying to save some 2014 Bedrock Vineyard Zins, as they are fairly young). I decanted for 4 hours, and enjoyed over another 2. I am not rating, but was young but VERY promising.
Enjoy the wines young and with bottle age, I’ve done both–no regrets. I’d say overall, the wines show well with several years of age on them, at least the reds.
Which whites did you receive? I’m a big fan of their Riesling and Compagni Portis offerings. The SB’s, not so much.
My wife and I visited in June, she doesn’t drink but lived the nose On the ‘18 SB so much she tried it and loved it, as did I. We bought quite a bit in case she decided to imbibe…in other words I love their SB!
So, I opened a 2018 Old Vine Zin. Accessible, but would not open another for 2 years to flesh out a bit and develop some nuance vs. primary fruit. All that being said, I’d open one every vintage just to make that determination, for the sake of science.
The 2012 North Coast Syrah is an absolute favorite of mine.
I’m really torn. We recently received some Bedrock here in Louisville (Ky is always late to the show)…I’m very excited as I’ve wanted to try thanks to this amazing site.So I picked up a a bottle of OVZ just to get an idea of the quality. I guess I will do a splash decant and let it get some air…can’t wait.